You will be surprised by the experiences you gain after your journey to explore Sweden.
Be proud of the smallest things
While other cities chase after the biggest buildings, Stockholm seems to pride itself on the smallest. One of them is the “Jarnpojken” (Iron Boy) statue in the Finnish Church in the old town of Gamla Stan. Although it is only a 14cm tall statue of a boy sitting hugging his knees, everyone who comes here wants to see this cute figure with their own eyes and leave a few coins in the hope that it will bring them luck.
In addition, the narrowest street named Marten Trotzigs grand (some places are only 90 cm wide) and the smallest red house in Stockholm are also other famous "tiny" tourist attractions in Sweden.
The famous Iron Boy statue in the Swedish capital. Photo:TripAdvisor
Rooftop tour
You won’t find a tour as unique as this one in Sweden, with Upperlev Mer’s Rooftop Walk in Stockholm’s Old Town. This is a unique combination of climbing and sightseeing, for those who aren’t afraid of heights. They will be equipped with safety gear to walk along a narrow path along the rooftops, about 65 meters above the ground.
From here, visitors can see the statue of Birger Jarls in front, the central square Birger Jarls Torg on the right, Riddarholmen island, Riddarholmen church to the south, Svea Hovrätt court to the west... Rooftop tours are usually held all year round, even in the snow season, on 2 weekends, with fixed time frames. Each tour is limited to a maximum of 10 guests at a price of 60 USD/person. Visitors can refer to the time frame and the number of people who have purchased the tour on the Upperlev Mer website.
Rooftop tour in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo:Tripadvisor
Christmas
Like many other countries, in Sweden, Christmas preparations begin in late November or early December. However, instead of December 25, Christmas in Sweden is celebrated on December 24. Before Christmas, Swedish people celebrate another very important holiday for them: St. Lucia's Day on December 13. On this occasion, they also gather together to eat traditional dishes such as salted meat, pig's feet, porridge, etc.
According to Swedish tradition, the Christmas tree is not brought home more than 2 days before Christmas. The tree will be decorated with candy wrapped in pretty paper, light bulbs and candles. Another interesting thing is that Santa Claus in Sweden does not ride a reindeer but a goat. According to legend, he comes to each house on a goat, and many Swedish families today often use a small straw goat statue as Christmas decoration.
Raspberry calendar
The Swedes have a special calendar with a raspberry in it, with a random name written on it for each day. They often use this calendar to name their children, so everyone has their own name day. If you have an English name, you can look it up in the calendar at namedaycalendar.com/sweden.
Village with one letter name
Although it is not the only place in the world with one-letter villages, it is a must-see when visiting Sweden. One of them is the small village of Å in Östergötland county with a population of about 200 people. In Sweden, there are about 12 other places with one-letter names such as Å, Ö or Y, most of which are farms or just houses. Å in the local language means stream or river. Many tourists who visit enjoy taking pictures with this super short village name sign.
Village Åin Östergötland county. Photo:bashny.net
Garbage classification
While you might normally sort your rubbish into recyclables and non-recyclables when you throw it away, in Sweden it is also sorted by the way it is recycled: incinerated, composted or cleaned and reused. This is a bit complicated, but it explains why the majority of rubbish in Sweden is recycled rather than landfilled.
To do that, people will have to learn the signs on the trash cans in Sweden and the image of someone standing for a long time next to a trash can, in front of a long queue, to decide which bin to throw their trash into is quite common in this country.
